Revolutionizing Cybersecurity Hiring: GenAI Elevates Skills Verification at Infosec Institute

Summary

• The launch: Infosec Institute announced the pilot of Infosec Skills Verification, a GenAI-powered feature in its Infosec Skills platform, on April 23, 2025.
• What it does is assess hands-on security skills, including how a person approaches and solves a task, not only whether they finish it.
• Why: Employers struggle to verify practical skills beyond certifications and degrees, especially when hiring remotely.
• Status: It is a pilot program, and Infosec is accepting applications from organizations that want early access.

Infosec Bets on AI to Check Real Skills

Cybersecurity employers have a hard time telling whether a candidate can actually do the job. Certifications and interviews show only part of the picture. Infosec Institute, a cybersecurity training company that is part of Cengage Group, says generative AI can help fill the gap. It launched a pilot of Infosec Skills Verification, which uses GenAI to evaluate hands-on technical work, and showcased it at the RSA Conference in San Francisco from April 28 to May 1, 2025.

How Skills Verification Works

The tool sits inside the Infosec Skills platform. Rather than just checking whether a task was completed, it uses AI to evaluate the approach, efficiency and problem-solving methods a person uses. Infosec says that gives organizations insight into the real capabilities of both current staff and job candidates.

Going Beyond Credentials

Employers already value hands-on experience. Infosec cites ISACA’s State of Cybersecurity report, in which 95% of cybersecurity leaders said hands-on experience is important in judging whether a candidate is qualified, and 73% rated it “very important.” Yet verifying that experience has been hard, especially in remote hiring.

Using It for Training Too

The tool is aimed at upskilling as well as hiring. Infosec points to the ISC2 Workforce Study, which found that “almost 60% of respondents agree that skills gaps have significantly impacted their ability to secure the organization.” Skills Verification is meant to help security and learning leaders target training and confirm that new skills actually stick. It builds on other recent AI features from Cengage Group, including Infosec’s Skills Navigator.

What Infosec Says

“In a field where real-world skills translate directly to organizational security, the ability to verify hands-on capabilities is invaluable,” said Keatron Evans, VP of Portfolio Product and AI Strategy at Infosec. “This isn’t about checking boxes — it’s about witnessing authentic technical mastery in action.”

What to Watch

It is still a pilot. Participants get early access and give feedback that will shape how the feature develops. The open question is how well AI scoring holds up against real job performance, and whether employers trust it enough to change how they hire.

The Takeaway for Hiring Managers

For hiring managers, the idea is sound even if the tool is new: test what candidates can do, not only what credentials they hold. Organizations that want to try Skills Verification can apply to join the pilot through Infosec.

Frank Jones, CISSP

Frank Jones has loved computers from the age of 13. Frank got his hacking career started when he downloaded a war dialing program that he used to detect dial up modems in his hometown of Chicago. Frank Jones now works as a JAVA coder and cyber security researcher.